α-1,3-glucan ester with carbon-carbon double bonds (C=C), namely, α-1,3-glucan butenoate (α₁₃GB) was synthesized from 3-butenoic acid and trifluoroacetic anhydride. Nonwoven nanofiber mat was successfully prepared by electrospinning α₁₃GB / HFIP solution. α₁₃GB had many reactive vinyl groups in its ester groups that could attribute to thiol-ene reaction, making it possible to modify the nanofiber mat surface by one step chemical functionalization using thiol-ene reactions. The surface of nanofiber mat was modified with 1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorodecanethiol (PFD) or 3-mercapto-1,2-propanediol (MPD) via thiol-ene reactions. Attenuated total reflection-Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy-energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX) analyses revealed that the surface of the nanofiber mat was successfully modified with these thiol compounds. The water contact angle (WCA) of the surface of each nanofiber mat was measured to evaluate its wettability changes, and indicated the mat modified with PFD showed super-hydrophobicity (WCA>150̊). Furthermore, the morphology of nanofiber was successfully maintained even after modification by adjusting reaction time.

In order to investigate the washing effect of alkaline electrolyzed water (SAEW) on three soil components adhering to cotton fabrics, the detergency of oil and protein-based soil components adhering to wet-type artificially soiled fabric washed with SAEW was evaluated by using ATR-FT/IR method. In addition,influence of dilution ratio on detergency of SAEW for soils on clothing was examined by using this method. The detergency of oil- and protein-based soils components at each dilution ratio of SAEW was significantly higher than that of solid particle soil component, suggesting that SAEW is superior to not only the detergency of solid particle soil, but also that of oil- and protein-based soils. The detergency of oil- and protein-based soil components washed with 75-fold diluted SAEW was found to be higher than a commercial liquid detergent (standard usage). From these experiments, it was clarified that the washing using SAEW was not only effective methods of reducing the environmental load and damage to the fabric, but also removing oil- and protein-based soil components adhering to cotton fabrics.